Thursday

Today I’m continuing our examination of the Biblical truths in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When we last talked, we left Peter, Susan, Lucy, and the beavers on the trail to join Aslan. I’ll skip over a big part of the story and come to one of my favorite scenes in any of the seven Chronicles of Narnia.

Edmund wasn’t with his brothers and sisters. He’s been in the custody of the white Witch, and he is not having a good time. At first she lured him in with delicious candy and promises of greatness, of ruling as a prince by her side. But she really just wanted information out of him – and he gave it to her. He told her what he’d learned from the beavers, that Aslan, the king of all kings, the son of the great Emperor-over-the-Sea, had returned to Narnia. And he told her where Aslan’s camp was. So the Witch gathers her army of ghouls and evil dwarves and other meanies, and heads out to attack.

At first she drags Edmund along in chains, but then she decides she doesn’t need him anymore. So she calls a halt and forces him to his knees, and whets her knife. But just as she is about ready to cut his throat, they’re attacked. Aslan has sent a rescue party. They free Edmund and take him back to Aslan’s camp. Whew! That was a close one!

Now, Lucy and Susan and Peter wake up the next morning to the wonderful news that their brother has been rescued. They rush out to greet him, and here’s what they see:

When the other children woke up next morning … the first thing they heard – from Mrs. Beaver – was that their brother had been rescued and brought into camp late last night; and was at that moment with Aslan. As soon as they had breakfasted they all went out and there they saw Aslan and Edmund walking together in the dewy grass, apart from the rest of the court. There is no need to tell you (and no one ever heard) what Aslan was saying, but it was a conversation which Edmund never forgot. As the others drew nearer Aslan turned to meet them, bringing Edmund with him.

“Here is your brother,” he said, “and—there is no need to talk to him about what is past.”

Two things about that scene bring me nearly to tears every time I read it.

The first, is the fact that we do not hear the conversation between Aslan and the poor, miserable traitor he has just saved. All we see is Edmund’s head bowed as he listens to his Savior’s words. How subtle. And what a powerful picture that paints. I love the fact that we don’t hear – but we can imagine.

How many times have I sinned, and then crawled back to Jesus? What does he say to me? What does he say to you? I don’t want to hear those intimate words spoken to someone else, even in fiction, because I have my own reunion with my Savior to cling to.

It is so powerful and so profoundly moving, and because of the subtlety of the writing, it is so intensely personal. I am right there in Edmund’s shoes, receiving grace from my savior.

The second thing I love about this scene is Aslan’s words to Peter and Susan and Lucy. Don’t ask him about it. What’s done is done.

You know, sometimes the Lord instructs us to confess our sins to one other. But there are sins in my life that are so deeply shameful and so very painful, and you know what? That’s okay. My sins are between me and my Savior. The healing that takes place when He restores me is deeply personal and so very precious. And when He forgives me, do you know what he says? Don’t dwell on it. There’s no need to talk about it. What’s done is done.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8-12)

The writer of Hebrews tells us this as well, when he reminds us that Jesus fulfilled the promise God made to His people long before:

“I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:16-17)

Jesus not only pays the price for our sins, He erases them completely. There’s no need to talk about them anymore, because as far as He is concerned, they no longer exist.

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